Flemington Racecourse is set in 125 hectares to the north of the Melbourne central business district, on the banks of the Maribyrnong River. It has the distinction of being the oldest continually operating metropolitan racecourse in Australia, having staged its first meeting in 1840 and is also the best-known, thanks to its association with the most famous two mile handicap in the world, the Melbourne Cup. Aside from the four-day Spring Carnival in November, of which the Melbourne Cup is the highlight, Flemington Racecourse plays hosts to 19 Flat fixtures throughout the year.

Course Characteristics

The round course at Flemington is a right-handed pear shape, 2,132 metres, or approximately a mile and a furlong, around, with a home straight of 450 metres, or a little over a quarter of a mile. The course drains well, so the going tends to be firmer than other courses in the Melbourne area, but Flemington is considered a very fair, with winners finishing down the centre of the course as well as against both rails. Flemington is also famous for its straight 1200-metre course, known as the ‘Straight Six’, which joins the round course at the top of the home straight. From the 3,200-metre, Melbourne Cup start, runners travel 900 metres, or approximately half a mile, in a straight line before encountering their first bend.

Track Facts

The Melbourne Cup, known as “the race that stops a nation”, is held on the first Tuesday in November each year; since 1877, Melbourne Cup Day has been a public holiday in Melbourne.

Phar Lap, arguably the most famous Australian racehorse in history, won on all four days of the Spring Carnival in 1930, including the Melbourne Cup.

Makybe Diva (2003, 2004 and 2005) is the only horse to have won the Melbourne Cup three times.

Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, is synonymous with what is surely the most famous steeplechase in the world, the Grand National. Apart from brief  World War I interruptions, when a substitute event was run at the now defunct Gatwick Racecourse, and World War II (I see a theme developing here!), the Grand National has been run at Aintree every April since 1839.

Course Characteristics

The National Course

The National Course is two and a quarter miles around, with sixteen unique spruce fences per circuit. The Canal Turn, which is fence eight and twenty-four in the Grand National, marks the furthest point from the grandstands, where the racecourse meets the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

The Aintree Grand National is run over two complete circuits, although the Chair, the biggest fence on the National course at a height of 5ft 2in, and the Water Jump are omitted on the second circuit, leaving a total of thirty fences to be negotiated. The run-in is the longest in the country, at 494 yards, and kinks sharply the right to form the famous “Elbow”, which has featured in many memorable National commentaries down the years.

Aside from the National itself, several other races, including the Becher Chase, over 3 miles 2 furlongs, and the Grand Sefton Chase, the Topham Chase and the Fox Hunters’ Chase, all over 2 miles 5½ furlongs, are run on the National Course during the year at Aintree.

The Mildmay Course

The Mildmay Course, which runs inside the National Course, is a mile and a half around and features eight traditional birch fences, or six hurdles, per circuit. Although less famous than the National Course, the Mildmay Course is home to several prestigious races, including the Aintree Hurdle and the Melling Chase run during the three-day Grand National meeting.

The severity of the bends at the end of the back straight and the start of the home straight was reduced in 1989, but the principal characteristic of the Mildmay Course remains sharpness. The course tends to suit agile, nimble types, who like to lead or race close to the pace, rather than big, long-striding gallopers.

Track Facts

In the 1956 Grand National, Devon Loch, owned by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis, collapsed 40 yards from the winning post with the race at his mercy. To this day no-one really knows what happened to him.

The seventh and twenty-third fence in the Grand National nowadays bears the name of the 1967 winner, Foinavon, who avoided a pile-up caused by the riderless Popham on the second circuit and went on to win by 15 lengths at 100/1.

Red Rum, trained by Donald “Ginger” McCain, is the only horse to win the Grand National three times. He won in 1973, 1974 and 1977 and finished second in 1975 and 1976.

The 1993 Grand National, later dubbed “The National that never was”, was declared null and void after all but nine of the thirty-nine jockeys failed to see the advance flagman waving a red flag to indicate a false start. The race was “won” by Esha Ness, trained by Jenny Pitman and ridden by John White.

Deauville Racecourse, or ‘Hippodrome de Deauville La Touques’ to give it its full French title, is set in 75 acres in the heart of the seaside resort of Deauville in Normandy, northwestern France. The racecourse was built by the Duke de Morny, a half-brother of Napoleon III, in 1864 and, today, stages 36 Flat fixtures between March and December. Deauville is best known for four Group 1 races, the Prix Maurice de Gheest, the Prix Jacques le Marois, the Prix Morny and the Grand Prix de Deauville, which are run throughout August and collectively constitute the ‘Prix de Deauville’.

Course Characteristics

Deauville Racecourse consists of two turf tracks, covering a total of 15 hectares. The round course is a right-handed oval, eleven furlongs in circumference, while the straight mile course joins the round course at the top of the home straight. There is also a synthetic, Fibresand course, a little over ten furlongs in circumference, which allows Deauville to race during the winter.

Track Facts

Deauville lies in the middle of the main horse breeding region in France, with 75 stud farms in the vicinity of the racecourse.

In August and October each year, renowned yearling sales are held at Deauville.

In August 2013, Moonlight Cloud won the Prix Maurice de Gheest and the Prix Jacques le Marois within the space of seven days to earn a place in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita Park for the second year running.

Clairwood Racecourse, known as the “Garden Course”, is set in 77 hectares of reclaimed marshland in the South Durban Basin, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The course originally opened in 1921, but was redeveloped by the Natal Racecourse Development Fund in 1982 and subsequently acquired by Gold Circle in 1999. However, Clairwood Racecourse was bought in 2012 by Capital Property Fund, which subsequently leased it back to Gold Circle for a period of two years.

Course Characteristics

The round course at Clairwood is a left-handed, flat, turf oval, just over a mile and a half in circumference, with a home straight of three furlongs. The six furlong straight course, on which horses drawn high have an advantage with cut in the ground, joins the round course at the top of the home straight.

Track Facts

In March 2013, the last three races at Clairwood were abandoned after punters protested about favourite, My Sanctuary, being declared a runner in the sixth race despite being hampered by a faulty starting gate.

The most valuable of the year at Clairwood is the Rising Sun Gold Challenge, run over 7 furlongs and 210 yards in June each year. In 2013, Variety Club, trained by Joey Ramsden, followed up his 2012 victory in the race.

In 2014, racing was transferred from Clairwood Racecourse to the newly renovated Greyville Racecourse, also owned by Gold Circle. The existing site was renamed Clairwood Logistics Park.